Published 3:31 pm, Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Photo: LM Otero

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In this Sept. 18, 2010 file photo, Texas head coach Mack Brown gives the "Hook 'Em Horns" sign savoring the 24-14 win over Texas Tech in an the NCAA football game against Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. Once again, the eyes of college football are on Texas. Only this time, it's not because of an All-American quarterback leading. Instead, it's to see if the Longhorns can rebound from their first losing season under Brown _ and whether the school's brash new television partnership will not only make Texas richer but also more powerful than ever. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File) less

In this Sept. 18, 2010 file photo, Texas head coach Mack Brown gives the "Hook 'Em Horns" sign savoring the 24-14 win over Texas Tech in an the NCAA football game against Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. Once ... more

AUSTIN -- Mack Brown should have enjoyed this week. He should have been basking in congratulations, in well wishes and in all of the adulation he's spent 16 years earning. His back should have been sore by now.

All of those hearty slaps would've been worth it.

Brown should have had the chance to walk into a crowded Valero Alamo Bowl gathering Thursday to a standing ovation, and the applause should have lasted an embarrassingly long time, and it shouldn't have ceased until Brown stepped up to the microphone and started talking.

You just know he would've had the perfect line.

We'll never get to hear it, though. Instead of turning his Thursday trip to San Antonio into part of a well-deserved retirement celebration, Brown is expected to walk into the most awkward, most uncomfortable news conference of his career.

Brown hasn't said he's resigning as Texas' football coach. But a well-connected UT source said he expects Brown will make such an announcement soon, and multiple media outlets across the state and around the country have reported the same likelihood. Still, the man who won more college football games from 2000-09 than anyone and who has secured his place as one of the top two coaches in Longhorns history is playing out an unfortunate string.

So someone will have to ask a question about his future, and Brown will say he just wants to talk about playing Oregon, and all who hear the exchange will fidget in their seats. And it didn't have to be that way.

The one thing Brown knew all along about this season is he wasn't going to be fired. He knew it in August, when he hailed 2013 as the season in which his Longhorns would returne to their glory years and compete for a championship. He knew it in September, even after that prediction fell apart with two humiliating blowouts. He told people he'd walk away if coaching wasn't fun anymore, or if he didn't feel wanted, but that it would be his decision.

UT wouldn't dare fire a coach like him. Fred Akers and David McWilliams, sure. John Mackovic? Give him a pink slip. But Brown was supposed to be able to leave gracefully.

There has been nothing graceful about this week, though. First, two high-ranking officials leaked word of the coach's exit, prompting Brown and athletic director Steve Patterson to publicly deny it. Meanwhile, 11 months after a UT regent and former regent met with Alabama coach Nick Saban's agent to discuss the Longhorns' job, rumors continued to fly about Saban's possible interest in replacing Brown.

According to multiple media reports, the Crimson Tide have been waiting several days for Saban to sign a contract extension, but he hasn't done so yet.

Throw in a political side story, and things get even messier. UT president Bill Powers, who's long been one of Brown's staunchest supporters, has been at odds with a segment of the board of regents for more than a year. Thursday, the board will go into session to discuss a matter "concerning (Powers') employment."

If Brown, Powers and Patterson had settled this Sunday, this all could have been avoided. There could have been a news conference early in the week, and Brown could have made an eloquent speech, and UT could have presented the world with the picture of a united, functional front.